The San Antonio AIDS Foundation today opened the east side's first HIV outpatient clinic at its offices just north of downtown, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Called the Care Clinic, Foundation CEO Cynthia Nelson says it comes at the right time, because new cases of HIV are spiking in Bexar County, especially among young people.
"Now that there is great retroviral therapy, a lot of young people think, 'oh, I can just take a pill for that, it's not that big a deal'," she said.
She says of the three 'HIV spikes' in Texas, three of them are in Bexar County, with one recently emerging in northwest San Antonio.
She says the fact that HIV has been out of the national conversation for a long time also leads to a sense of complacency among some younger people who don't remember the 'scourge' of AIDS in the 1980s.
Nelson says the clinic will help people with HIV manage their condition and live productive lives
."With fewer and fewer people dying of AIDS, and more and more living long, productive lives while they manage a chronic disease, this clinic will enable SAAF to remain a turn-key organization, from testing and diagnosis to actual medical care, case management, healthcare referrals, mental health counseling, and so much more," she said.